► This thesis consists of three essays on topics in financial time series with particular emphases on specification testing, structural breaks and long memory. The first…
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▼ This thesis consists of three essays on topics in financial time series with particular emphases on specification testing, structural breaks and long memory. The first essay develops an asymptotically valid specification testing framework for the Realised GARCH model of Hansen et al. (2012). The misspecification tests account for the joint dependence between return and the realised measure of volatility and thus extend the existing literature for testing the adequacy of GARCH models. The testing procedure is constructed based on the conditional moment principle and the first-order asymptotic theory. Our Monte Carlo results reveal good finite sample size and power properties. In the second essay, a Monte Carlo experiment is conducted to investigate the relative out-of-sample predictive ability of a class of conditional variance models when either a structural break or long memory is allowed. Our Monte Carlo results reveal that if the true volatility process is stationary short memory and its persistence level is not too high, but is contaminated by a structural break, the presence of the structural break is of importance in choosing a proper size of estimation window in the short-run forecast. If the persistence level is very high, spurious long memory may often dominate the true structural break in the longer-run forecast. For data generation processes without any structural break, the forecasting models, which can characterise the properties of the true conditional variance process, are favourable. In the last essay, we analyse the properties of the S&P 500 stock index return volatility process using historical and realised measures of volatility. We investigate a true property of the stochastic volatility processes by means of econometric tests, which may disentangle true or spurious long memory. The realised variance and realised kernel of the US stock market return exhibit true long memory. However, the historical volatility process shows some evidence of spurious long memory. We examine relative out-of-sample performance of one-day-ahead forecasts, with emphasis on the predictive content of structural changes and long memory. A class of ARFIMA models consistently produces the best-performing forecasts compared to a class of GARCH models. Among the GARCH models, it is shown that a rolling window GARCH forecast and GARCH forecasts which account for breaks outperform the long memory-based GARCH models even with the long memory proxy process.

► This thesis contains three chapters on dynamic models with discrete and continuous outcomes. In the rest chapter, I focus on indirect inference estimation. Indirect inference…
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▼ This thesis contains three chapters on dynamic models with discrete and continuous outcomes. In the rest chapter, I focus on indirect inference estimation. Indirect inference is used to estimate parameters in models where evaluation of the objective function directly is complicated or infeasible. Indirect inference is typically formulated as an optimization problem nesting one or more other optimization problems. In some cases the solution to the inner optimization problems can be obtained in one step, but when such a solution is not available, indirect inference estimation is computationally demanding. I show how constrained optimization methods can be used to replace the nesting of optimization problems and I provide Monte Carlo evidence showing when this approach is bene cial. The second chapter uses panel data from the United Kingdom to estimate a model of wage dynamics with labour participation where the variance in wages is decomposed in a permanent and a transitory component. Most studies that estimate similar models ignore non-participation; individuals without a wage are simply removed from the analysis. This leads to biased estimates of the parameters if working individuals are di erent in their unobservable characteristics compared to people that do not work. I use a dynamic selection model to include a discrete labour participation choice in a simple model of wage dynamics and compare the results to a version of the model that does not include labour participation. In the third chapter, I show how some of the assumptions on the dynamics of the unobservables in the second chapter can be relaxed. High dimensional integrals have to be approximated to estimate the less restrictive models. I use sparse grids and simulation methods to approximate these integrals and compare their performance on simulated data.

► In this dissertation I exploit observational and experimental data to study individual decision making when agents face social interactions or are described by non-standard neoclassical…
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▼ In this dissertation I exploit observational and experimental data to study individual decision making when agents face social interactions or are described by non-standard neoclassical preferences. In the first chapter I study how social interactions, could explain occupational choice in an incomplete information setting. In a discrete choice framework I allow for group unobservables affecting decisions. I show that asymmetries in the peer influence enables to separately identify the effects from group members’ expected behaviour and the effects from their characteristics. I provide an empirical application to nineteenth century London. The results show that social networks were important in determining occupations but are somewhat lower than estimates which do not impose consistent beliefs nor allow for unobservables. Secondly, I implement an artefactual field experiment with small entrepreneurs. Subjects were given an initial amount of money to be invested across alternatives. Some of the subjects were informed about the possibility of getting either a high or a low income level. The income level was either predetermined or allocated after a fair lottery. Agents who started with a low income after the lottery were more risk loving. A model of reference–dependent preferences with multiple reference points, formed through recently held expectations on foregone and actual outcomes, fits most of the experimental results. In the last chapter I study game interactions in interdependent value auctions fol- lowing Kim (2003). Agents are asymmetrically informed in terms of how precisely they know the different aspects of the object’s value. Due to the mismatch of bidding strategies between these bidders, the second-price auction is inefficient. The English auction has an equilibrium in which bidders can infer information and attain efficiency. The increase in perfectly informed bidders increases the seller’s revenue. A laboratory experiment confirms key predictions about efficiency and revenues and reveals naive bidding.

▼ The thesis consists of four chapters utilising applied micro-econometric techniques to develop a deeper understanding of the education sector. I apply traditional economic concepts such as productivity, immigration, insurance and technological innovation to the field of education economics. Chapter one considers the consequences of academic rank in primary school on later test scores. Using administrative data tracking the student population in England, I estimate the impact of rank on later attainment through the variation in the test-score distributions across schools. The positive impact of rank on attainment helps to explain some puzzles in the education literature, such as the lack of impact of selective schools. The second chapter involves immigration and investigates how the influx of overseas students has affected enrolment of domestic students at UK universities. Using administrative data, I employ methods used in the labour literature to model crowd-out. I find no evidence of crowd-out of domestic students, and some evidence of crowd in amongst postgraduate students. Chapter three establishes the threat of accusations as new source of demand for trade union membership amongst teachers. I model union membership as legal insurance, where demand is determined by the threat of accusations. I measure threat primarily through the incidence of media stories concerning teachers in the local area. Combining these data with union membership data from Labour Force Surveys, I find that unionisation rates increase with media coverage of allegations. The final chapter is an estimation of the impact of restricting technology in the workplace on productivity. This is applied to the education setting using the autonomous decisions by schools to ban mobile phones. Obtaining histories of phone policies through surveys and combining this with administrative data on individual pupil level attainment, I use a difference in difference analysis to estimate the impact on student performance.

Murphy RJ. Little known facts about education : an empirical analysis. [Doctoral Dissertation]. University College London (University of London); 2014. Available from: http://discovery.ucl.ac.uk/1434889/ ; http://ethos.bl.uk/OrderDetails.do?uin=uk.bl.ethos.631922

University College London (University of London)

5.
Avitabile, C.Information and health care in developed and developing countries.

► This thesis studies the effect of information and cultural barriers on the demand for health care in both developed and developing countries. Chapter 1 exploits…
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▼ This thesis studies the effect of information and cultural barriers on the demand for health care in both developed and developing countries. Chapter 1 exploits the randomized research design of PROGRESA, a conditional cash transfer programme implemented in rural Mexico, to study whether health interventions can have indirect effects on the propensity to screen for gender specific diseases. We show that among women not entitled to a cash transfer there is a higher likelihood of being screened for cervical cancer as result of greater social acceptance of the test and increased awareness of potential risk factors. Chapter 2 discusses whether attendance at health and nutrition sessions as one of the requirements for receiving a transfer, affects the health behaviour of eligible adults. Using data from the randomized design of the PAL nutritional programme, implemented in rural Mexico, we show that there is a lower propensity among women for a large waist circumference, which is driven by reduced calorie intake based on better nutrition knowledge. Chapter 3 examines whether the quality of primary care affects the uptake of mammography and colonoscopy among individuals aged 50 plus, in eight European countries. We find that better quality general practitioner are significantly increases the propensity to undergo screening. Finally, Chapter 4 looks at whether the costs involved in acquiring health information are an important determinant of the decision to buy supplementary private health insurance and whether this explains in part the large cross country variation in supplementary private health insurance coverage across European countries. We find evidence that both education and proxies for cognitive ability act as substitutes for quality of health promotion in the propensity to sign a supplementary private insurance.

Avitabile, C. (2009). Information and health care in developed and developing countries. (Doctoral Dissertation). University College London (University of London). Retrieved from http://discovery.ucl.ac.uk/18981/ ; http://ethos.bl.uk/OrderDetails.do?uin=uk.bl.ethos.625254

Chicago Manual of Style (16th Edition):

Avitabile, C. “Information and health care in developed and developing countries.” 2009. Doctoral Dissertation, University College London (University of London). Accessed February 22, 2019.
http://discovery.ucl.ac.uk/18981/ ; http://ethos.bl.uk/OrderDetails.do?uin=uk.bl.ethos.625254.

Avitabile C. Information and health care in developed and developing countries. [Internet] [Doctoral dissertation]. University College London (University of London); 2009. [cited 2019 Feb 22].
Available from: http://discovery.ucl.ac.uk/18981/ ; http://ethos.bl.uk/OrderDetails.do?uin=uk.bl.ethos.625254.

Council of Science Editors:

Avitabile C. Information and health care in developed and developing countries. [Doctoral Dissertation]. University College London (University of London); 2009. Available from: http://discovery.ucl.ac.uk/18981/ ; http://ethos.bl.uk/OrderDetails.do?uin=uk.bl.ethos.625254

► This thesis examines the operation of urban labour and housing markets. I bring new insights to old questions about migration, unemployment and homeownership. The first…
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▼ This thesis examines the operation of urban labour and housing markets. I bring new insights to old questions about migration, unemployment and homeownership. The first essay studies the impact of immigration on the wages of native-born workers. In standard competitive models, the effect comes entirely through changes in marginal products of different labour types. But, I argue that firms with monopsonistic power can exploit the lower reservation wages of recent migrants by cutting wages for natives and migrants alike. I present evidence from cross-city variation in local skill distributions, wages, and employment rates. The second essay looks at why higher skilled workers are more likely to migrate long distances within a country. It is commonly argued that they face comparatively low migration costs. But, US survey evidence on reported reasons for moving suggests this explanation is at best incomplete. I argue that high skilled workers are relatively mobile, more fundamentally, because of larger potential gains from a successful job match. The third essay documents descriptive facts on regional unemployment differentials. In the UK, unemployment has remained persistently high in less productive cities since the 1980s. But, there is no such relationship in the US: local populations adjust quickly to meet local demand. I speculate that relatively generous out-of-work benefits in the UK may allow unemployed workers to remain in poor-performing cities, while low local housing costs discourage them from searching elsewhere. The final (co-authored) essay focuses on the determinants of homeownership. It is commonly argued that households bring forward their home purchase because of uncertainty over future house price fluctuations. But, using a life cycle model, we argue that households are more likely to respond to price risk by increasing their liquid savings. We present supporting evidence from cross-city variation in ownership rates and loan-to-value ratios.

► This thesis presents an analysis of Social Protection programmes in Colombia and Mexico, and of the way in which they may create incentives for certain…
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▼ This thesis presents an analysis of Social Protection programmes in Colombia and Mexico, and of the way in which they may create incentives for certain types of individual and household behaviour. The first chapter uses a Regression Discontinuity Design to study whether the structure and targeting of the health component of the Colombian welfare system incentivises workers to join the informal labour market. The findings suggest that being eligible to non-contributory health increases the probability of being informal by about 12 percentage points for male heads of household, while being covered by non-contributory health increases it by around 70 percentage points. The second chapter studies how households respond to changes in the benefits of social protection programmes by evaluating the impact of modifying the school grants in the Mexican Conditional Cash Transfer programme Oportunidades. I use data on a randomised control trial which eliminated grants for primary school, increased grants for lower and higher secondary school by 25%, and included a bonus for school attainment. The findings show some unintended decreases in primary school enrolment, and unexpected decreases in school enrolment of 13 to 18 year old boys. However, the school grants increased enrolment for older girls, as would have been expected. Althoug I find that the changes in the delivery of the grants decreased food expenditure for some households, I find no evidence of perverse effects on food security. The final chapter develops and estimates a dynamic structural model to understand the determinants of participation in Mexico's urban Oportunidades. In the model, households make choices on Oportunidades participation, children's school attendance and maternal labour supply taking into account the costs and benefits of complying with the programme conditionalities. I use the model to evaluate two policies that could incentivise participation in Oportunidades: decreasing the time spent travelling to the health centres (which decreases the costs of complying with the health conditionalities), and increasing the school grants (which increases the benefits of complying with the education conditionalities). I find that the largest increase in participation results from the first policy, which increases participation in Oportunidades by up to 15 percentage points.

Espinosa, S. (2014). Intended and unintended incentives in social protection programmes : evidence from Colombia and Mexico. (Doctoral Dissertation). University College London (University of London). Retrieved from http://discovery.ucl.ac.uk/1426976/ ; http://ethos.bl.uk/OrderDetails.do?uin=uk.bl.ethos.626571

Chicago Manual of Style (16th Edition):

Espinosa, S. “Intended and unintended incentives in social protection programmes : evidence from Colombia and Mexico.” 2014. Doctoral Dissertation, University College London (University of London). Accessed February 22, 2019.
http://discovery.ucl.ac.uk/1426976/ ; http://ethos.bl.uk/OrderDetails.do?uin=uk.bl.ethos.626571.

Espinosa S. Intended and unintended incentives in social protection programmes : evidence from Colombia and Mexico. [Doctoral Dissertation]. University College London (University of London); 2014. Available from: http://discovery.ucl.ac.uk/1426976/ ; http://ethos.bl.uk/OrderDetails.do?uin=uk.bl.ethos.626571

► In chapter one I study the welfare optimal allocation of a number of identical indivisible objects to a set of heterogeneous risk-neutral agents under the…
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▼ In chapter one I study the welfare optimal allocation of a number of identical indivisible objects to a set of heterogeneous risk-neutral agents under the hypothesis that money is not available. Agents have independent private values, which represent the maximum time that they are willing to queue to obtain a good. I show that a priority list is optimal when hazard rates of the distributions of values are increasing. Instead, queues are optimal in a symmetric setting with decreasing hazard rates. In the second chapter, I study a model in which the use of both market (e.g. auctions) and non-market mechanisms (e.g. lotteries and priority lists) for the allocation of scarce public resources can be rationalized. Agents are risk-neutral and heterogeneous in terms of their monetary value for a good and their opportunity cost of money. The designer wants to allocate a set of goods to the agents with the highest values. The designer screens agents on the basis of their observable characteristics, and extracts information on their willingness to pay using market mechanisms. I show that both market and non-market mechanism can be optimal depending on the prior information. In the last chapter I study a dynamic market model where trade for a single object is bilateral, constrained by an exogenous network structure and conducted under asymmetric information. The model provides a insights into how the position of a player in a network affects his bargaining outcomes. First, traders who provide monopolistic access to valuable portions of the trading network become intermediaries, and obtain a payoff advantage. Second, the earlier an intermediary obtains the object in the trading chain, the higher is his expected payoff. Finally, inefficient outcomes are possible, and are jointly caused by the network structure and by asymmetries of information.

► Labour markets of developing countries are typically characterised by low unemployment but high informality. In Latin America, about half of the workforce is informal. This…
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▼ Labour markets of developing countries are typically characterised by low unemployment but high informality. In Latin America, about half of the workforce is informal. This includes wage workers without registration and those self employed who do not make social security contributions. Informality is an issue because it has been associated with low productivity jobs and low general human capital investment, despite being a source of employment. The first two chapters focus on extending and estimating labour market models to evaluate the impact of labour market policies on welfare, employment, informality, and wages in developing countries. The first chapter presents a model with search frictions where workers and firms decide whether to be formal or informal. The second chapter assumes firms’ sector is exogenous however allows for workers to become self employed. In common, simulations using these two different frameworks show that increasing the cost of informality has a small impact on unemployment and informality levels. Such policies reduce informal sector wages which are on average the lowest in the economy. Consequently, wage inequality increases. Nonetheless, results show that welfare may improve significantly. The first reason is the increased competition in the formal sector which may occur if firms can choose sector. The second reason is a large increase in formal labour force size because of improved rent-sharing between firms and workers since the latter can enter self employment. In either case, formal wages rise, along with all workers’ welfare. The third chapter provides an empirical test for the impact of enforcement of labour legislation on measures of workers’ welfare. Stricter enforcement increases compliance with mandated benefits (registration, social security and minimum wage). However, there are two tradeoffs, one between the provision of mandated benefits and wages, and another between mandated and important optional job benefits, such as private health.

▼ This thesis employs microeconometric methods to understand determinants and eects of individual behavior relating to educational choice and consumer demand. Chapter 2 studies the intergenerational eects of maternal education on a range of children's outcomes, including cognitive achievement and behavioral problems. Endogeneity of maternal schooling is addressed by instrumenting with schooling costs during the mother's adolescence. The results show substantial intergenerational returns to education. The chapter studies an array of potential channels which may transmit the eect to the child, including family environment and parental investments. The following chapter 3 investigates the eect of studying abroad on international labor market mobility later in life for university graduates. As source of identifying variation, this work exploits the introduction and expansion of the European ERASMUS student exchange program. Studying abroad signicantly increases the probability of working abroad, and the chapter provides evidence on the underlying mechanisms. Chapter 4 compares labor market outcomes between rm-based apprenticeships and full-time vocational schooling alternatives, exploiting the idea that variation in apprenticeship availability aects the opportunities individuals have when they grow up. The chapter documents how variation in vacancies for apprenticeships aects educational choice. The results show that apprenticeship training leads to lower unemployment rates at ages 23 to 26, but there are no signicant dierences in wages. Chapter 5 develops a new approach to the measurement of price responsiveness of gasoline demand and deadweight loss estimation. It uses shape restrictions derived from economic theory to match a desire for exibility with the need for structure in the welfare analysis of consumer behavior. Using travel survey data, the chapter shows that these restrictions remove the erratic behavior of standard nonparametric approaches. Investigating price responsiveness across the income distribution, the middle income group is found to be the most responsive.

Parey, M. (2010). Essays in the economics of education and microeconometrics. (Doctoral Dissertation). University College London (University of London). Retrieved from http://discovery.ucl.ac.uk/20002/ ; http://ethos.bl.uk/OrderDetails.do?uin=uk.bl.ethos.564785

Chicago Manual of Style (16th Edition):

Parey, M. “Essays in the economics of education and microeconometrics.” 2010. Doctoral Dissertation, University College London (University of London). Accessed February 22, 2019.
http://discovery.ucl.ac.uk/20002/ ; http://ethos.bl.uk/OrderDetails.do?uin=uk.bl.ethos.564785.

Parey M. Essays in the economics of education and microeconometrics. [Internet] [Doctoral dissertation]. University College London (University of London); 2010. [cited 2019 Feb 22].
Available from: http://discovery.ucl.ac.uk/20002/ ; http://ethos.bl.uk/OrderDetails.do?uin=uk.bl.ethos.564785.

Council of Science Editors:

Parey M. Essays in the economics of education and microeconometrics. [Doctoral Dissertation]. University College London (University of London); 2010. Available from: http://discovery.ucl.ac.uk/20002/ ; http://ethos.bl.uk/OrderDetails.do?uin=uk.bl.ethos.564785

► In the first chapter, co-authored with Emanuela Galasso, we evaluate an original large-scale intervention in Madagascar (SEECALINE) that focuses on promoting correct breast-feeding, complementary feeding…
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▼ In the first chapter, co-authored with Emanuela Galasso, we evaluate an original large-scale intervention in Madagascar (SEECALINE) that focuses on promoting correct breast-feeding, complementary feeding and hygiene practices. We find that the program helped 0-5 year old children, in the participating communities to bridge their gap in weight-for-age z-score and the incidence of underweight. The program also had significant effects in protecting height-for-age and reducing the incidence of stunting. We also show that SEECALINE can have very different effects on the anthropometric status of children, depending on the educational level of the mother. We find that the program improved height-for-age only for children whose mothers had at least secondary level education. We propose an explanation based on interaction effects between proxies of birth conditions and maternal education. More educated mothers meet the necessary conditions that reinforce the behavioral change enabling program effects. We provide evidence that access to public health facilities during birth and early childhood is necessary for translating behavioral change into improvements in children‟s health status. Chapter 1 leaves the question of differential take-up by maternal education unanswered. The heterogeneous effects could be due to lack of adoption of practices by the least educated mothers. In the second chapter I apply difference-in-difference and propensity score weighting techniques to identify causal impact of the program availability on behavioral change and show that least educated mothers adopted the recommended practices. This complements the evidence presented in chapter 1 that although improved knowledge of child-care may be necessary it is not sufficient to translate into improvements in nutritional outcomes. In the third chapter co-authored with Emanuela Galasso and Jeffrey Yau, we estimate the returns to differential lengths of exposure to SEECALINE. We address this question using information available only on program participants. To that end, we develop a methodology that circumvents this data hurdle and estimate returns to differential lengths of exposure using administrative data. We find that the differential returns are decreasing over time, though they do not dissipate to zero. These results provide suggestive evidence that the returns to the program reflect learning effects from the intervention.

► This thesis investigates the effect that market institutions have on economic outcomes such as employment and innovation. The market institutions under study are those that…
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▼ This thesis investigates the effect that market institutions have on economic outcomes such as employment and innovation. The market institutions under study are those that determine the conditions in product, labour and capital markets. Of particular interest is how the effect of institutional changes in one market depends on the conditions in another, or depends on the nature of innovation by the firm. The first chapter describes the matching of patents at the European Patent Office to firm accounts data for all registered firms across fifteen European countries. This constitutes a valuable new dataset for research in innovation that is used for much of the empirical work in this thesis. The second chapter investigates the impact of product market competition on unemployment, and how this depends on labour market institutions. It uses differential changes in regulations across OECD countries to find that increased competition reduces unemployment, more so in countries with strong unions. The third chapter investigates how the effect of product market competition on innovation depends on financial institutions. Using exogenous variation in competition in manufacturing industries this chapter finds that the positive effect of competition on innovation is larger in countries with good financial institutions. The fourth chapter investigates the effect of employment protection legislation on innovation. The theoretical effect of employment protection legislation on innovation is ambiguous, and empirical evidence is thus far inconclusive. This chapter finds that within multinational enterprises overall innovation occurs more in subsidiaries located in countries with high employment protection, however radical innovation occurs more in subsidiaries located in countries with low employment protection.

Macartney, G. J. (2009). Market institutions and firm behaviour : employment and innovation in the face of reform. (Doctoral Dissertation). University College London (University of London). Retrieved from http://discovery.ucl.ac.uk/18564/ ; http://ethos.bl.uk/OrderDetails.do?uin=uk.bl.ethos.564679

Chicago Manual of Style (16th Edition):

Macartney, G J. “Market institutions and firm behaviour : employment and innovation in the face of reform.” 2009. Doctoral Dissertation, University College London (University of London). Accessed February 22, 2019.
http://discovery.ucl.ac.uk/18564/ ; http://ethos.bl.uk/OrderDetails.do?uin=uk.bl.ethos.564679.

Macartney GJ. Market institutions and firm behaviour : employment and innovation in the face of reform. [Doctoral Dissertation]. University College London (University of London); 2009. Available from: http://discovery.ucl.ac.uk/18564/ ; http://ethos.bl.uk/OrderDetails.do?uin=uk.bl.ethos.564679

► In this dissertation I exploit di erent sources of rich rm-level data to study how rms organise their innovation activities in a world characterised by…
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▼ In this dissertation I exploit di erent sources of rich rm-level data to study how rms organise their innovation activities in a world characterised by increasing globalisation and rapid technological change. The empirical analysis presented in this thesis aims to contribute to a robust evidence base to inform public policy. Chapter 2 considers the impact that information and communication technology (ICT) has on observed rms choices over organisational form. It nds that rms that are more ICT-intensive tend to purchase a greater amount of services on the market and are more likely to purchase o shore. Chapter 3 investigates the relationship between the location of private sector R&D labs and university research departments in Great Britain across di erent industries. The strongest evidence for co-location is for foreign-owned pharmaceutical labs and frontier chemistry research departments consistent with multinationals sourcing technology internationally. Chapter 4 extends the analysis of the previous chapter by using continuous measures of spatial proximity for the analysis of co-location of R&D labs and universities and by considering rm-university interactions directly. Chapter 5 provides a set of novel facts about EU pharmaceutical patenting rms engaged in the use of foreign inventors for drug discovery activity. It explores dimensions of rm-level heterogeneity similar to the ones used to analyse trade patterns. These are also shown to be a key feature in the internationalisation of inventors. Chapter 6 provides evidence on how changes in the employment of high-skilled workers (inventors) in a foreign location a ect a rm's domestic employment of the same type of worker. It nds evidence consistent with the idea that foreign and domestic inventors are complementary in the production of knowledge.

► This dissertation contains three essays on the implications of complementarities on the equilibrium sorting in the marriage market, and on the optimal bundling of different…
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▼ This dissertation contains three essays on the implications of complementarities on the equilibrium sorting in the marriage market, and on the optimal bundling of different development policies. This first chapter develops and tests a model of marital sorting on gender-role attitudes and intrahousehold time allocations with search frictions in the marriage market, and endogenous intrahousehold bargaining power. It is shown that individuals develop a marital taste for similar gender culture partners in order to avoid conflict in decision-making within their future households. This incentive for matching assortatively is stronger for individuals anticipating little say in intrahousehold decision-making. Using data from the British Household Panel Survey, it is shown that the ability that a woman has to guide the extensive margin of her labor market supply according to her own gender-role attitudes, is entirely driven by her search for a same-attitudes partner while in the marriage market. The second chapter provides empirical evidence on whether health education and microfinance act as substitutes or complements in reducing neonatal mortality. Identification exploits the randomized placement of a health educational intervention in rural India, stratified by the presence of a pre-existing microfinance intervention, together with the longitudinal dimension of our dataset. We find that the two interventions substituted each other: both were more effective when offered in isolation then when offered together. Further analysis shows that these interventions operated through different and substitutable channels. The health education intervention increased the adoption of hygienic health behaviours in home deliveries, whereas the microfinance intervention increased payments made to traditional birth attendants. These findings challenge the preconceived policy notion that complementarities between these two ingredients for development call for their joint supply. In contrast, they suggest that policy makers may get more out of each by offering them in isolation to their communities. The final chapter analyses a decentralized two-dimensional marriage market model with transferable utility, where individuals’ attributes are uniformly distributed on the unit square. I first show that matching of likes along both dimensions is the competitive equilibrium when the geometric average within-attribute complementarity is greater than the geometric average between-attribute complementarity. A finding that nests, as a special case, Becker’s assortative matching result, and is in contrast to previous literature suggesting that the concept of assortative matching is not well defined in multi-dimensions. I then show that away from their optimal (similar-type) partners, individuals are willing to compensate mismatches on one of the attributes with opposite mismatches on the other attribute. A finding that in turn sheds new light on the trade-offs that individuals make in less than perfectly competitive multidimensional marriage markets, such…

Montalvao-Machado JMDC. Essays on complementarities in bipartite matching and in policy combination. [Doctoral Dissertation]. University College London (University of London); 2014. Available from: http://discovery.ucl.ac.uk/1437396/ ; http://ethos.bl.uk/OrderDetails.do?uin=uk.bl.ethos.631974

► This thesis consists of six essays related to experimental investigation of social preference. We investigate the effects of a pure income effect on social preference…
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▼ This thesis consists of six essays related to experimental investigation of social preference. We investigate the effects of a pure income effect on social preference in the first essay. In the second essay we explore the effects of gender in altruism and the corresponding anticipation behavior. The third essay discusses the effects of different type of rebate schemes on altruistic behavior. We study the effects of a real and a minimal identity on initiation and escalation of conflict in the fourth essay. The fifth essay investigates the effects of social cues in (anti) social behavior. The final essay tests the effects of pure framing on altruistic behavior.

Jeon JY. Essays on social preference. [Doctoral Dissertation]. University of East Anglia; 2014. Available from: https://ueaeprints.uea.ac.uk/53364/ ; http://ethos.bl.uk/OrderDetails.do?uin=uk.bl.ethos.656060

► This thesis is separated into two distinct parts. The first of these investigates the extent to which tuberculosis morbidity and mortality in the twentieth century…
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▼ This thesis is separated into two distinct parts. The first of these investigates the extent to which tuberculosis morbidity and mortality in the twentieth century were determined by the conditions in which people worked and lived and how institutional responses to the tuberculosis problem shaped individual chances of survival locally, nationally and internationally. We collate several new datasets to investigate socio-economic determinants of tuberculosis disease. Firstly, we use newly sourced data to investigate to what extent, why and to what effect different areas in interwar Britain pursued different policy agendas and how these affected tuberculosis outcomes, both through qualitative discussion and through the application of statistical methods. We argue that where local authorities identified tuberculosis as a socio-economic phenomenon, outcomes were favourable. Secondly, we identify a tripartite divide between developing, newly industrialising and developed countries after the introduction of antimicrobial drugs. We explain why peoples in some parts of the world did not benefit from the promises of prevention and cure enjoyed those in the West. Thirdly, we construct new a data set to investigate the cross country determinants of tuberculosis morbidity and mortality and to observe this tripartite divide, with special focus on the nutritional composition of diet, in the post war period. We find a tuberculosis Kuznets relationship and that adequate nutrition and living conditions most strongly predict tuberculosis outcomes. Finally, we ask whether, in the current era of drug resistant tuberculosis, nutrition science can be utilised to prevent the development of active symptoms if drugs cannot cure the disease. In the second part, individual level data sourced from the World Health Organisation is used to investigate whether background risks to health influence the decision to smoke. A modified double hurdle model of the decision to smoke reveals that background health risks may increase smoking, contrary to theoretical prediction, but that the effect is moderate.

▼ This thesis analyses intrahousehold resource allocation issues related to nutrition and food distribution, nutrient demand, and child health and nutrition outcomes in rural Bangladesh using relevant microeconometric methods and their application to household surveys. Using a measure of bargaining power — spouses’ assets at marriage — that is culturally relevant and (weakly) exogenous to household decision making process, I find strong evidence of intrahousehold bargaining on nutrient allocation and on distribution of food from relatively expensive sources. In this regard, a wife’s bargaining power positively affect the allocation of the adult females at the expense of that of adult males. The bargaining effects are significant even after controlling for unobserved household characteristics and potential health-nutrition-labour market linkages. Spouses’ preference and bargaining also tend to vary at different income levels. At the low income level, a wife prefers preschooler boys to preschoolers girls while the preschooler girls to preschooler boys at the middle income level in intrahousehold food distribution. Son-preference in intrahousehold food distribution is also guided by cultural norms and appears to be prominent in non-poor households as opposed to poor households in Bangladesh. Using a characteristic demand framework, I also find that individuals’ intakes of calorie, macronutrients, and a set of micronutrients are inelastic to implicit calorie price while the own and cross implicit price elasticities for a range of critical micronutrients are highly elastic to implicit micronutrient prices. Calorie intake appears to be highly inelastic for both poor and non-poor while both the macro and micronutrient intakes of the poor compared to that of the non-poor are more responsive to implicit macro and micronutrient prices. Finally, analysing the effect of household structure on child outcomes, I find that child education, but not health outcomes, to be substantially better in nuclear families than in extended families. These findings have important implications in terms of malnutrition, food policy, and human capital formation in a poor rural economy.

► This thesis deals with attrition in panel data. The problem associated with attrition is that it can lead to estimation results that suffer from selection…
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▼ This thesis deals with attrition in panel data. The problem associated with attrition is that it can lead to estimation results that suffer from selection bias. This can be avoided by using attrition models that are sufficiently unrestrictive to allow for a wide range of potential selection. In chapter 2, I propose the Sequential Additively Nonignorable (SAN) attrition model. This model combines an Additive Nonignorability assumption with the Sequential Attrition assumption, to just-identify the joint population distribution in Panel data with any number of waves. The identification requires the availability of refreshment samples. Just-identification means that the SAN model has no testable implications. In other words, less restrictive identified models do not exist. To estimate SAN models, I propose a weighted Generalized Method of Moments estimator, and derive its repeated sampling behaviour in large samples. This estimator is applied to the Dutch Transportation Panel and the English Longitudinal Study of Ageing. In chapter 4, a likelihood-based alternative estimation approach is proposed, by means of an EM algorithm. Maximum Likelihood estimates can be useful if it is hard to obtain an explicit expression for the score function implied by the likelihood. In that case, the weighted GMM approach is not applicable.

Hoonhout PJM. Identification and estimation of panel data models with attrition using refreshment samples. [Doctoral Dissertation]. University College London (University of London); 2011. Available from: http://discovery.ucl.ac.uk/1318085/ ; http://ethos.bl.uk/OrderDetails.do?uin=uk.bl.ethos.565356

► This thesis comprises three chapters on the study of investments in human capital. The first chapter analyzes the effects of Head Start, a preschool program…
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▼ This thesis comprises three chapters on the study of investments in human capital. The first chapter analyzes the effects of Head Start, a preschool program for poor children, on adolescents' behaviors. As program is means-tested, its effects are identified using discontinuity in the probability of program participation induced by eligibility rules. Since there is a range of income thresholds, which vary with family size, state and year, the effect is identified for a large set of individuals in the neighborhood of each discontinuity. Participation in Head Start reduces the incidence of behavioral problems, grade repetition, obesity, depression and criminal behavior. Among others, the first chapter leaves two questions unanswered: the first concerns the low take-up of social programs; the second relates to changes in parents' investments in their children when they face income shocks. To first question is addressed in the context of a program launched in Chile in 2002 - the Chile Solidario. The aim of this program is to provide psycho-social support to indigent families. As Head Start, Chile Solidario is a means-tested program and its effects are identified using a RD design. The program increases the take-up of subsidies and employment programs. However, information provided by Chile Solidario about other programs increases take-up only among those with less (direct or indirect) previous contact with the welfare system. The last chapter studies the ability of parents to insure investments in their children's human capital against income shocks. Parental investments in children are central to their development over the entire period of childhood. During this period families are potentially hit by a variety of shocks to their resources, which can impact investments in children. Understanding parental reaction is relevant for the design of anti-poverty programs that target vulnerable families with children and it may shed light on the mechanisms behind the effects found for child care programs and income transfers. The approach used builds on a life-cycle model that accounts for within and across periods nonseparability in parents' problem introduced by the accumulation of human capital of children (Cunha, Heckman and Shennach, 2010). I account for the fact that parents have an array of possible investments available. In particular, time maybe a suitable substitute for some types of goods/expenditure investments. I implement my analysis using the Children of the National Longitudinal Survey of the Youth 1979 (CNLSY79). Ignoring the multiplicity of investment that parents have in each moment and the cumulative nature of skills may produce biased estimates. I reject the hypothesis that time use and consumption towards children are separable over time; time use is complement to child's expenditures when children are less than six (for children of worse o families), but it is substitute of expenditures for school-age children.

Prata Ginja, R. C. S. (2011). Essays in private and public investments in human capital. (Doctoral Dissertation). University College London (University of London). Retrieved from http://discovery.ucl.ac.uk/1322964/ ; http://ethos.bl.uk/OrderDetails.do?uin=uk.bl.ethos.625636

Chicago Manual of Style (16th Edition):

Prata Ginja, R C S. “Essays in private and public investments in human capital.” 2011. Doctoral Dissertation, University College London (University of London). Accessed February 22, 2019.
http://discovery.ucl.ac.uk/1322964/ ; http://ethos.bl.uk/OrderDetails.do?uin=uk.bl.ethos.625636.

Prata Ginja RCS. Essays in private and public investments in human capital. [Doctoral Dissertation]. University College London (University of London); 2011. Available from: http://discovery.ucl.ac.uk/1322964/ ; http://ethos.bl.uk/OrderDetails.do?uin=uk.bl.ethos.625636

SOAS, University of London

20.
Mueller, Bernd.
Working for development? : a study of the political economy of rural labour markets in Tanzania.

► The thesis aims to expand economists’ general understanding of rural development by interpreting the formation, expansion and functioning of rural labour markets as being situated…
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▼ The thesis aims to expand economists’ general understanding of rural development by interpreting the formation, expansion and functioning of rural labour markets as being situated at the centre of development. For this, we start by setting up an analytical framework that is rooted in classical political economy and that highlights the importance of socio-economic relations of power and property, processes of socio-economic differentiation, as well as the centrality of gender and intra-household relations as critical parts and complements in any holistic analysis. Through this we explore the deep theoretical links between the labour market and any process of rural development. The principal part of the thesis then goes on to applying this analytical framework using empirical survey data collected in the West Usambara Mountains region in North Tanzania through primary fieldwork in 2008 exploring wider processes of labour market participation and capital accumulation. A major aspect of this research is to compare our results with the influential study by Sender and Smith (1990) conducted in the same region in 1986. Some important results of our study are a relatively clear trend towards production being predominantly governed by wage labour relations, a general increase of economic pressure on people’s land holdings and a resulting process of increased differentiation and separation from the means of subsistence. We furthermore observed – in contrast to Sender and Smith’s conclusions – a tangible reduction of men’s capacity to coercively appropriate women’s labour power within the household, which they diagnosed to be a major impediment towards the greater process of development.

Mueller, B. (2011). Working for development? : a study of the political economy of rural labour markets in Tanzania. (Doctoral Dissertation). SOAS, University of London. Retrieved from http://eprints.soas.ac.uk/13195/ ; http://ethos.bl.uk/OrderDetails.do?uin=uk.bl.ethos.655303

Chicago Manual of Style (16th Edition):

Mueller, Bernd. “Working for development? : a study of the political economy of rural labour markets in Tanzania.” 2011. Doctoral Dissertation, SOAS, University of London. Accessed February 22, 2019.
http://eprints.soas.ac.uk/13195/ ; http://ethos.bl.uk/OrderDetails.do?uin=uk.bl.ethos.655303.

MLA Handbook (7th Edition):

Mueller, Bernd. “Working for development? : a study of the political economy of rural labour markets in Tanzania.” 2011. Web. 22 Feb 2019.

Vancouver:

Mueller B. Working for development? : a study of the political economy of rural labour markets in Tanzania. [Internet] [Doctoral dissertation]. SOAS, University of London; 2011. [cited 2019 Feb 22].
Available from: http://eprints.soas.ac.uk/13195/ ; http://ethos.bl.uk/OrderDetails.do?uin=uk.bl.ethos.655303.

Council of Science Editors:

Mueller B. Working for development? : a study of the political economy of rural labour markets in Tanzania. [Doctoral Dissertation]. SOAS, University of London; 2011. Available from: http://eprints.soas.ac.uk/13195/ ; http://ethos.bl.uk/OrderDetails.do?uin=uk.bl.ethos.655303

► Financialisation addresses the rising importance of the financial sphere in contemporary capitalist economies, but the concept has remained theoretically vague, often failing to go beyond…
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▼ Financialisation addresses the rising importance of the financial sphere in contemporary capitalist economies, but the concept has remained theoretically vague, often failing to go beyond the narrow confines of the rise of finance and to examine the broader interaction of finance with the rest of the economy. Furthermore, scarce attention has been paid to the relevance of financialisation to developing countries, particularly to middle-income countries. South Africa is an important case-study that enables a stronger conceptualisation of financialisation, encompassing its relation to developing countries. The thesis first develops a political economy approach to the concept of financialisation by drawing on recent work that stresses the changing conduct of non-financial enterprises, banks and households. A theoretical framework for financialisation is developed and is then set against the empirical reality of South Africa. To be specific, the thesis examines the evolution of financial flows as well as of the financial position of different sectors - focusing on non-financial enterprises, banks, and households - during the post-apartheid period, thus testing the relevance and applicability of financialisation to South Africa. The thesis shows that the South African economy is indeed a financialised economy, but which nevertheless presents a number of distinguishing features for each sector due to the specific domestic historical context and connections with the world market. Non-financial enterprises have become increasingly engaged in debt and equity markets, but still rely on traditional sources of funding, such as bank credit. Banks have targeted households as a rising source of income, but investment banking activities have remained marginal. Finally, households have accumulated increasing volumes of debt, although with unequal distribution and cost, reflecting the extreme inequality of the South African society. The results presented contribute to a more robust understanding of financialisation in developing counties showing its variety of form as a phase of capitalist development.

► Research on the use of information technology (IT) in production in the developed world demonstrates that its impact on both economic growth and productivity has…
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▼ Research on the use of information technology (IT) in production in the developed world demonstrates that its impact on both economic growth and productivity has been substantial. Despite this, literature on the potential for India's IT industry to bring about similar outcomes by selling IT within the country is resoundingly pessimistic. The most important finding of the research described here is that this outlook is far too gloomy. A newly assembled time series of the IT sector's sales to Indian companies, or in other words the sector's forward linkages, shows that these have been substantial for some time. Since 2005-06 they have also been growing significantly faster. An original econometric investigation into the impact of this ongoing investment finds significant increases in both total factor productivity and output in the firms and sectors that make up the sector's domestic clients. These findings beg a question: If published analyses imply a dismal future for the IT sector's forward linkages, why have domestic purchases from the sector, in fact, been growing so quickly? The research project included a programme of in-depth interviews undertaken in the field. This contributed another major finding. That is that IT has become appropriate for production in India as a result of a match between attributes of the technology and attributes of the country's society and markets. The research described here was not limited to an investigation of the sector's forward linkages. It also included an extensive survey of backwards and other linkages from the sector to the rest of the Indian economy. The thesis concludes that these too are now substantial and that the IT industry can therefore be described as a leading sector.

► NGOs have arguably become the most prominent actors in development, managing increasing volumes of funding and becoming important interlocutors to government and international agencies. This…
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▼ NGOs have arguably become the most prominent actors in development, managing increasing volumes of funding and becoming important interlocutors to government and international agencies. This thesis contributes to the increasing body of academic literature on NGOs. It presents a case study, namely Lebanon, in recent historical perspective and in the context of changing funding frameworks in overseas development aid. It is examined how country context as well as donor frameworks shape NGO operations. Project implementation by NGOs is judged as highly context specific. That is to say NGO characteristics change with historical, political and social context. NGO operations are shaped by regulatory framework, international development discourse and donor demands. This dissertation addresses how country context, donor preferences and funding frameworks affect project implementation by NGOs Two data sources are used to address this question firstly a large NGO survey, covering more than 3000 non-governmental organisations and secondly a qualitative study consisting of firstly a small database of 197 projects and secondly records of semi-structured interviews with NGO staff and experts. The qualitative data focuses rural development projects. Descriptive analysis of the NGO survey is used to build a historical analysis of the Lebanese NGO sector in various periods. The focus of activity as well as staffing and funding patterns are found to vary across activity and time. Following an analysis of country specific influences on NGO operations is an analysis of donor preferences. Multi-variate logistic regression analysis is used to analyse which donors fund what type of NGOs. Empirical manifestations of donor preferences indicate that Lebanese third sector, governmental and international donors have specific preferences of certain NGO characteristics, such as institutional sophistication, access to networks or sectarian affiliation. Thematic analysis of qualitative data of rural development projects shows that, though donor influence is not articulated directly by NGO staff, it can be revealed through an analysis of implemented projects and a critical appraisal of their impact. Through funding frameworks donors are found to define from the outset a significant share of NGO project implementation.

Seyfert, K. (2014). Between donor preferences and country context : an analysis of the Lebanese NGO sector. (Doctoral Dissertation). SOAS, University of London. Retrieved from http://eprints.soas.ac.uk/20340/ ; http://ethos.bl.uk/OrderDetails.do?uin=uk.bl.ethos.665083

Seyfert K. Between donor preferences and country context : an analysis of the Lebanese NGO sector. [Doctoral Dissertation]. SOAS, University of London; 2014. Available from: http://eprints.soas.ac.uk/20340/ ; http://ethos.bl.uk/OrderDetails.do?uin=uk.bl.ethos.665083

University of Exeter

24.
Laban, Joanne.
The influence of culture on decision making under risk and uncertainty.

► I investigate how culture affects decision making under risk and uncertainty through three main strands - social networks, cultural norms and identity, and peer effects.…
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▼ I investigate how culture affects decision making under risk and uncertainty through three main strands - social networks, cultural norms and identity, and peer effects. Firstly, I investigate whether students from collectivist cultures form larger networks at university than students from individualist cultures and to what extent these networks are relied on for risk-sharing. Using an online survey, I find that students from collectivist cultures such as China form larger financial risk-sharing networks at university than students from individualist cultures such as Britain. In the financial context, having a larger network increases the willingness to take risks for collectivists but not individualists. On the other hand, students from collectivist cultures are less willing to take risks with their interpersonal relationships than those from individualist cultures. One likely reason for this is that as networks are relied on more for risk-sharing in collectivist cultures, the value of maintaining relationships is increased. Secondly, I run experiments with a stag hunt and bargaining coordination game to see whether cultural norms or identity play a part in coordination decisions. Using a between-subjects design, I vary the identity of the opponent between someone of the same culture or a different culture. I compare the responses of British and Asian students and show the cultural identity of the opponent by physical appearance. The players appear to use cultural stereotypes to predict behaviour, especially in the bargaining game which may require more strategic thought than the stag hunt game. Finally, I investigate cultural differences in conformity in the context of risk attitudes. I expect that people from cultures that value conformity, such as collectivist East Asian cultures, will be more likely to conform to others than people from cultures that value individuality, such as the United Kingdom. My experiment consists of lottery choice tasks, where some students are given information on the choices from a previous session. Again, comparing Asian and British students, I find no difference in the distribution of Asian choices between treatments. However, the British students are inclined to choose against the majority of their peers. This behaviour is consistent with an individualist culture that places value on uniqueness.

Laban, J. (2014). The influence of culture on decision making under risk and uncertainty. (Doctoral Dissertation). University of Exeter. Retrieved from http://hdl.handle.net/10871/16052

Chicago Manual of Style (16th Edition):

Laban, Joanne. “The influence of culture on decision making under risk and uncertainty.” 2014. Doctoral Dissertation, University of Exeter. Accessed February 22, 2019.
http://hdl.handle.net/10871/16052.

Laban J. The influence of culture on decision making under risk and uncertainty. [Internet] [Doctoral dissertation]. University of Exeter; 2014. [cited 2019 Feb 22].
Available from: http://hdl.handle.net/10871/16052.

Council of Science Editors:

Laban J. The influence of culture on decision making under risk and uncertainty. [Doctoral Dissertation]. University of Exeter; 2014. Available from: http://hdl.handle.net/10871/16052

► The main aim of this thesis is to examine the effects of the use of derivatives on financial risk measures of UK non-financial firms for…
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▼ The main aim of this thesis is to examine the effects of the use of derivatives on financial risk measures of UK non-financial firms for the period 1999-2010. This question is important in the light of attempts by regulators to curb the use of over-the-counter (OTC) derivatives as a response to the 2008 financial crisis, the introduction of European Market Infrastructure Regulation and more recently the prospect of the introduction of the financial transactions tax. Despite the significant use of derivatives by UK non-financial firms, there is a gap in literature for a study that shows the effect of derivatives use on the financial risk for UK firms. This examination is important in the UK setting as financial distress is more costly for the UK firms due to higher creditors’ right in the UK, all else being equal. In this thesis, the effects of foreign currency (FC) and interest rate (IR) derivatives are examined on the 1-year probability of default, 5-year probability of default, total risk, idiosyncratic risk, market risk and foreign exchange (FX) exposure. This thesis contributes to the corporate hedging literature by presenting, to the best of our knowledge, new evidence on the impact of derivatives on firm financial risk. Chapter 4 of this thesis examines the effects of derivatives use on the total risk, idiosyncratic risk and market risk. The results suggest that a 1% increase in the extent of all derivatives use is associated with a reduction of 2.52% in total risk, 2.22% in idiosyncratic risk and 0.0651 basis points in market risk. A 1% increase in the extent of FC derivatives use is associated with a reduction of 0.0945 basis points in market risk. We also examine the nonlinear effect of derivatives use on financial risk and find inverted Ushaped relationship with reduction in total risk and idiosyncratic risk is associated with low and high derivatives use. We also control for the problem of endogeneity by matching derivative users with non-users using a propensity score matching method. Our results suggest that derivative users have a statistically lower 5.50% to 6.80% total risk and 4.08% and 5.17% idiosyncratic risk. We provide empirical evidence that is consistent with the notion that firms use derivatives for hedging and not for speculation. In Chapter 5, we examine the effects of derivative use on expected default frequency (EDF). The results show that IR derivatives use has a greater impact on the probability of default than FC derivatives use. Furthermore, we find that hedging with derivatives has a significantly greater impact on near term default (1-year) than long-term (5-year) default probabilities. The interaction of derivatives variable with time dummies reveals that the derivatives use is associated with a large reduction in the probability of default during the period of 2000-2001 and 2007-2009. We also interact our derivatives variable with proxies for credit risk conditions and find that derivatives use has largest negative effect on the probability of default during the period of…

► Population mobility has long been associated with the dynamics of HIV transmission. Initial concerns focused on the historical spread of the disease, whereas more recent…
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▼ Population mobility has long been associated with the dynamics of HIV transmission. Initial concerns focused on the historical spread of the disease, whereas more recent concerns view mobile populations as engaging in higher levels of risky sexual behaviours than non-mobile populations. Two main case studies South African mineworkers and truck drivers, illustrate this, with lessons from these cases applied across all forms of mobility. However, a review of statistical analyses that test for differences in risk behaviours and HIV rates between 'mobile' and 'non-mobile' groups shows that there is no universal correlation, suggesting that the relationship between mobility and HIV requires further unpacking. This project explored the underlying socio-economic determinants of flows of people and how engaging in these processes creates risky sexual contexts and influences individual risk behaviours, through a case study in Tanzania. Three mobile groups were studied - farmers who farm land away from home, maize traders and dagaa sellers. Results from focus group discussions and in-depth interviews highlight that the requirements of each economic activity, and the factors that draw mobile groups to specific destinations influence patterns of movement and the conditions of moving, including where mobile individuals live and sleep, who they stay with, and the general relationship they have with the destination area. This has implications for the nature of relationships they have whilst away, how they access local sexual networks, who potential sexual partners are, and whether condoms are used. However, the sexual behaviour of mobile groups is also shaped by local sexual norms around sex and exchange and the structure of local value chains, in which economic and social power is expressed at specific gendered interfaces. These influences are distinct from but entangled with the mobility narrative, and emphasise that mobile and non-mobile groups may experience risk in similar ways.

Deane, K. (2013). A socio-economic analysis of HIV : exploring the relationship between population mobility and HIV risk in Tanzania. (Doctoral Dissertation). SOAS, University of London. Retrieved from http://eprints.soas.ac.uk/18061/ ; http://ethos.bl.uk/OrderDetails.do?uin=uk.bl.ethos.594069

Deane K. A socio-economic analysis of HIV : exploring the relationship between population mobility and HIV risk in Tanzania. [Doctoral Dissertation]. SOAS, University of London; 2013. Available from: http://eprints.soas.ac.uk/18061/ ; http://ethos.bl.uk/OrderDetails.do?uin=uk.bl.ethos.594069

SOAS, University of London

27.
Boffo, Marco.
Interrogating the knowledge-based economy : from knowledge as a public good to Italian post-workerism.

► This thesis offers a critique of the reception of the Knowledge-Based Economy concept within both mainstream economics and contemporary Marxist debates. The first chapter analyses…
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▼ This thesis offers a critique of the reception of the Knowledge-Based Economy concept within both mainstream economics and contemporary Marxist debates. The first chapter analyses how this concept and attendant discussions have recently prompted mainstream economists to provide it with foundations within economic theory and advocate the development of an economics of knowledge. Given the fallacious understanding, within mainstream economics, of knowledge, the economy, and their interaction, the chapter demonstrates the flawed nature of the mainstream version of the Knowledge-Based Economy and the economics of knowledge as judged from the standpoint of any contribution holding different views on knowledge, the economy, and their interaction. The second chapter addresses the reinterpretation of the Knowledge-Based Economy as cognitive capitalism elaborated within Italian post-workerist autonomist Marxism. The latter theorises the preponderance of immaterial labour within contemporary capitalism, and has been recently recast in terms of Marxist economic analysis. Following the persistence of capitalism and the continuing relevance of Marxian analytical categories, the chapter demonstrates how the conceptualisation of contemporary capitalism as cognitive capitalism hinges on a misreading of Marxian value theory and its relation to the economy, and weakened links of the analysis with the politics of Marxism itself. The third chapter investigates issues related to the social ubiquity of networked computers, which is increasingly understood as driving new processes of class formation within capitalism and as instantiating new forms of exploitation considered, under the label of 'prosumption', as simultaneously more pervasive and less alienating. The chapter investigates these issues through the prism of recent work of Italian post-workerist Marxists critical of the cognitive capitalism debate. The chapter demonstrates the theoretical flaws inherent in both understanding technology as a vector of class formation and the concept of prosumption, while also deepening the critical understanding of Italian post-workerism elaborated in the second chapter.

Boffo, M. (2013). Interrogating the knowledge-based economy : from knowledge as a public good to Italian post-workerism. (Doctoral Dissertation). SOAS, University of London. Retrieved from http://eprints.soas.ac.uk/17843/ ; http://ethos.bl.uk/OrderDetails.do?uin=uk.bl.ethos.594063

Chicago Manual of Style (16th Edition):

Boffo, Marco. “Interrogating the knowledge-based economy : from knowledge as a public good to Italian post-workerism.” 2013. Doctoral Dissertation, SOAS, University of London. Accessed February 22, 2019.
http://eprints.soas.ac.uk/17843/ ; http://ethos.bl.uk/OrderDetails.do?uin=uk.bl.ethos.594063.

MLA Handbook (7th Edition):

Boffo, Marco. “Interrogating the knowledge-based economy : from knowledge as a public good to Italian post-workerism.” 2013. Web. 22 Feb 2019.

Vancouver:

Boffo M. Interrogating the knowledge-based economy : from knowledge as a public good to Italian post-workerism. [Internet] [Doctoral dissertation]. SOAS, University of London; 2013. [cited 2019 Feb 22].
Available from: http://eprints.soas.ac.uk/17843/ ; http://ethos.bl.uk/OrderDetails.do?uin=uk.bl.ethos.594063.

Council of Science Editors:

Boffo M. Interrogating the knowledge-based economy : from knowledge as a public good to Italian post-workerism. [Doctoral Dissertation]. SOAS, University of London; 2013. Available from: http://eprints.soas.ac.uk/17843/ ; http://ethos.bl.uk/OrderDetails.do?uin=uk.bl.ethos.594063

► Global Value Chains (GVC) analysis, which is increasingly used in development studies to connect production in developing countries with consumption in developed countries, is used…
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▼ Global Value Chains (GVC) analysis, which is increasingly used in development studies to connect production in developing countries with consumption in developed countries, is used in this work to analyse the Malawi tobacco industry. This work engages with three key concepts of GVC analysis - territoriality, governance, and upgrading - in order to map the geography of the chain and its actors, examine power relationships in the chain, and determine which actors benefit from participation and how. In order to complement the firm focus of GVC analysis and incorporate a role for the state and producers, we draw on selected concepts from other theoretical traditions. Empirical evidence used in our analysis of the global tobacco industry was collected through a combination of a desktop-survey of the scant academic literature available, semistructured interviews with industry experts and stakeholders outside of Malawi, a synthesis of various primary sources, as well as a field visit to tobacco sites in the United States. The Malawi case study draws on evidence collected over the course of three fieldwork trips to Malawi and through observation, informal conversations, a firm-level survey, and over 50 semi-structured interviews with industry stakeholders and officials in farmer organizations and government there. We find that whilst firms have played a dominant role in transforming and determining participation in the Malawi tobacco industry, government and farmer associations have also been decisive. In particular, government policy has contributed to the territoriality of, as well as governance of and upgrading in the chain. Likewise, smallholder producers have used their associational power in order to upgrade in the chain. This work therefore contributes to the empirical literature on the global and Malawian tobacco industries, as well as to debates on the theoretical underpinnings of the GVC literature.

► This thesis contains three essays on the macroeconomic performance of Asian economies. Chapter 2 studies the sources of growth in Asian economies using a growth…
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▼ This thesis contains three essays on the macroeconomic performance of Asian economies. Chapter 2 studies the sources of growth in Asian economies using a growth accounting model. We contribute to the existing debate on the role of factor accumulation and Multi Factor Productivity (MFP) growth in Asian economies. Our findings indicate that overall, MFP growth accounted for around 0.8% of the growth in output from 1960 to 2010. The estimated contribution of MFP growth to output growth varies from 3.1% per annum in Taiwan to -3.0% in Bangladesh over the same period. Our growth accounting estimates show that both accumulation and assimilation were important sources of rapid growth in South Asia, East Asia and China between 1980 and 2010. MFP growth has been much higher in this period as compared to 1960-79. We interpret this result as an indication of the regional economies being at an initial stage of development during 1960s and 1970s. Our findings point to a strong association between a country‟s productivity and a country‟s absorptive capacity. We suggest that at initial stage of development factor accumulation is the main driver of growth. However, MFP growth increases with the general development of the economy as absorptive capacity improves. The contribution of human capital has been positive as suggested by the new growth theory but moderate in magnitude. East Asia is at a higher ladder of development due to its better human capital accumulation. We do not find empirical support for Krugman hypothesis which states that output growth dominated by physical capital accumulation is short lived and not sustainable. Our findings provide the evidence that growth in Asian economies is sustainable. However, South Asia needs to increase existing investment levels in order to accumulate physical and human capital. Policy should give a high priority to human capital accumulation in China. Asia's spectacular economic growth is accompanied by large investments in education and the region enjoys sound institutional environment especially in East Asian countries. Thus, Chapter 3 examines the impact of human capital and governance on Average Labour Productivity (ALP) and MFP growth in 14 Asian countries over the 1966-2010 period. We compare the performance of a Cobb-Douglas function with a more structural specification that accounts for the distance of countries from the technological frontier. Our results show that a 1% increase in aggregate human capital is associated with approximately a 0.4% increase in ALP and MFP growth, implying that there are internal as well as external returns to human capital accumulation. The effect is larger for primary educated workers (0.4%) and gradually decreases for secondary (0.2%) and tertiary educated workers (0.1%). For tertiary educated workers we find that their impact increases the closer a country is to the technological frontier. This shows that different types of skills are important at different levels of development and, while increasing investment into basic education will greatly…

► This thesis provides an original theoretical and empirical analysis of the effectiveness of capital adequacy regulation in promoting the soundness and stability of the international…
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▼ This thesis provides an original theoretical and empirical analysis of the effectiveness of capital adequacy regulation in promoting the soundness and stability of the international banking system, focusing on two countries: US and Japan. It is argued that capital adequacy regulation is theoretically flawed, taking no account of the process of balance sheet reconstruction banks undertake to achieve overcapitalisation, and ignoring any effect on the rest of the economy. The analysis uses a macro- economic theory -based approach to examine the impact of capital adequacy regulation on the probabilities of default of US and Japanese banks for the period, 2007-2009 and 1998-2000, respectively. The underlying theory of this analysis is the capital market inflation theory, which looks at the system as a whole and thus making it possible to analyse the role of the Basel capital requirements on the real economy. This thesis also provides an empirical evaluation of the capital market inflation theory, by developing a simple asset-pricing model to estimate the US and Japanese stock price indexes, taking into account the inflows of institutional investors, such as pension funds and insurance companies, into the capital markets. As a reinforcing argument against capital adequacy regulation the shadow banking system is incorporated into the analysis as a cosmetic manicure for risk in balance sheet. The evidence suggests that risk-weighted capital adequacy regulation gives misleading signals about the soundness of banks. The empirical results imply that banks with higher Tier I capital ratios have a higher probability of default whereas banks with higher unweighted capital ratios have a lower probability of default. The results suggest that the negative relationship between unweighted capital ratios and the probability of default is the effect of illiquidity in the capital market for relatively risk-free assets, whereas the positive relationship between the Tier 1 capital ratios and the probability of defaults is the effect of crowding out in the capital market.

Shabani, M. (2015). The incidence of bank default and capital adequacy regulation in U.S. and Japan. (Doctoral Dissertation). SOAS, University of London. Retrieved from http://eprints.soas.ac.uk/20381/ ; http://ethos.bl.uk/OrderDetails.do?uin=uk.bl.ethos.665112

Shabani M. The incidence of bank default and capital adequacy regulation in U.S. and Japan. [Doctoral Dissertation]. SOAS, University of London; 2015. Available from: http://eprints.soas.ac.uk/20381/ ; http://ethos.bl.uk/OrderDetails.do?uin=uk.bl.ethos.665112